Counting Begins for 28 Legislative Council Seats in UP, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka

Counting of votes began on Tuesday for 28 seats in the Legislative Councils of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Polling for the seats took place on October 23. Security was tightened around the counting centre in Gorakhpur, with multiple layers of barricading and police deployment.

UTTAR PRADESH

Polling was held for five Graduates’ constituencies, Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut and Allahabad-Jhansi, and six Teachers’ constituencies, Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut, Bareilly-Moradabad and Gorakhpur-Faizabad.

BJP candidate for the Lucknow Graduates’ seat Awanish Kumar Singh praised the party’s workers for the smooth voting and the heavy turnout. “A huge number of ballots are set to be cast in favour of the BJP,” he told ANI. “With the grace of Lord Ram and the blessings of Hanuman ji, we will secure victory.”

Samajwadi Party candidate Sushil Kumar, contesting a Teachers’ seat, urged the administration to keep the counting fair. “It must be ensured that no external pressure, whether from the government or any other entity, is allowed to influence the proceedings,” he said. “This is their constitutional duty.”

BIHAR

Eight seats went to the polls: four Graduates’ constituencies, Patna, Darbhanga, Tirhut and Kosi, and four Teachers’ constituencies, Patna, Darbhanga, Tirhut and Saran. Counting for the Patna Graduates’ and Patna Teachers’ seats is being held at Bankipur Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School.

Jan Suraaj candidate Anuj Singh raised concerns about the arrangements. He said there are no CCTV cameras in the counting area and that the space for counting agents is unhygienic and foul-smelling.

“There absolutely must be CCTV cameras there,” he said. “We have raised this with the Returning Officer.” He also said voters have made their decision and that Jan Suraaj will win the Patna Graduates’ seat by a significant margin.

MAHARASHTRA

A total of 182 candidates are contesting five seats: three Graduates’ constituencies, Pune, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and two Teachers’ constituencies, in Pune and Amravati.

KARNATAKA

Four seats were contested across 17 districts. The constituencies drawing the most attention are the Bengaluru and North-East Teachers’ seats and the West and South-East Graduates’ seats.

With inputs from ANI